Editor's note: This has been updated to reflect changes to Aziz Ansari's Just for Laughs schedule.

BILL BROWNSTEIN

1. Aziz Ansari: Modern Romance (July 16, 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., Théâtre Maisonneuve of Place des Arts, $62.35). He had been hailed as the funniest comic under 30. Well, he’s over 30 now, and Ansari is wiser and wittier, but, alas, still baffled on the courtship front. When he first showed up at Just for Laughs five years ago, few were aware of his comedic smarts. He has since become among the hottest tickets in the comedy universe.

2. Comedy Underground With Dave Attell(July 25 and 26, 11:45 p.m., Café Cléopâtre, 1230 St-Laurent Blvd., $20). He may be too nasty for the Nasty Show, but the comic other comics feel is among the best in the biz should feel right at home at Cléo on the Main. The world’s most hysterical insomniac will be reprising his hit Comedy Central show. He attributes his woes to his pop: “When I was young, I thought he was Superman. Now I realize he was just another drunk with a cape.”

3. Vanessa Bayer: Talk of the Fest(July 23, 7 and 10 p.m., Club Soda, 1225 St-Laurent Blvd., $39.65 to $54.15). Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels never fails to find monster talent to replace those who have moved on. He must have caught Bayer in the Second City staging of Jewsical! The Musical. Bayer is a blast, whether doing Miley Cyrus better than Miley Cyrus or Jacob the Bar Mitzvah Boy.

4.Mike Birbiglia: Thank God for Jokes(July 22 to 26, 9:30 p.m., Gesù — Centre de créativité, 1200 Bleury St., $44.70). And thank God for Mike Birbiglia. He launches his latest solo play at the fest, and it will probably go on to Broadway and beyond like his previous JFL-premièred monologue, the high-larious yet moving Sleepwalk With Me. He also struck gold at the fest with My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend and What I Should Have Said Was Nothing. We beg to differ with the latter. Keep on babblin’, Birbiglia.

5. Kumail Nanjiani and Friends(July 24 and 25, 11:45 p.m., Underworld, 1403 Ste-Élisabeth St., $24.25). Cited on lists everywhere as one to watch out for, Nanjiani is finally getting his due with comedy specials and plum parts on such TV series as the über-hip Portlandia and Silicon Valley. He attributes his constant albeit deliriously droll paranoid state to a kids’ birthday party he attended in Karachi, where the headline act was a battle to the death between a cobra and a mongoose. The mongoose won, ripping the cobra to shreds and providing a lifetime’s worth of nightmares for young Kumail.

ASMAA MALIK

1. Broad City: Talk of the Fest(July 22, 7 and 10 p.m., Club Soda, $39.65 to $54.15). Everyone’s favourite BFFs (and New Yorkers) Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer bring their sharp, shameless slacker comedy to Talk of the Fest as hosts. They’re so giddily reckless and off-the-wall on their breakout Amy Poehler-executive-produced television show, I can’t wait to watch them bounce off each other, and their guests.

3. James Adomia’n Friends(July 21 to 24 and July 26, 10:30 p.m. at MainLine Theatre, 3997 St-Laurent Blvd., $20). Adomian is known for his hyperbolic but spot-on impersonations of crazy characters like former Minnesota governor Jesse (the Body) Ventura, and I for one am very excited to see if he reprises his role as the very gay Sheriff of Nottingham in very tight tights from his previous Just for Laughs appearance.

4. Amy Schumer’s Gala(July 26, 7 p.m., Salle Wilfrid Pelletier of Place des Arts, $45.35 to $88.75). It’s been a busy few years for Schumer since she first tried out bleep-worthy jokes for Comedy Central’s Roast of Roseanne Barr at the Katacombes. Her boundary-pushing TV show Inside Amy Schumer is a rare critical and popular success, and despite her raunchy style, it’s easy to see how she counts legends like Carol Burnett and Lucille Ball among her influences.

5. Paul F. Tompkins and Friends Real and Imagined(July 21 to 24 and July 26, 9 p.m., MainLine Theatre, $20). Whether he’s channelling Garry Marshall, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber or the Cake Boss, Tompkins’s infectious laughter gives him away. He’s the consummate comedian, generous to his audience but always faithful to the joke. This year, he brings his real-life and “fake-life” friends together and hilarity will no doubt ensue.

BASEM BOSHRA

1. Jim Gaffigan’s Gala(July 27, 6:30 p.m., Salle Wilfrid Pelletier of Place des Arts, $40.75 to $78.90). It’s lovely to see a tireless, first-rate comic land a plum gala gig at the festival. If ever a successful, acclaimed performer could still be called underrated, it’s Gaffigan, likely due to the seeming effortlessness of his winning material.

2. Jerrod Carmichael(July 21 to 26, 7:30 p.m., Théâtre Sainte Catherine, 264 Ste-Catherine St. E., $20). I’m as guilty as anyone of using the lazy “young Dave Chappelle” shorthand to describe the laconic North Carolina comic, but hopefully Carmichael — and you, for that matter — understands the high praise with which that reference is intended.

3. T.J. Miller(July 25, 11:30 p.m., L’Astral, $36.15 to $48.15). A reliably boisterous and subversive comic on stage, podcasts, films and TV — last seen co-starring on the HBO comedy Silicon Valley — Miller’s stock has continued to rise since his coveted spot on Variety’s 10 Comics to Watch list in 2008.

4. Nick Offerman: Talk of the Fest(July 25, 7 and 10 p.m., Club Soda, $39.65 to $54.15). I have no idea what the Parks & Recreation co-star has planned for his Talk of the Fest hosting gig, but he is such a formidable comic presence as Ron Swanson on the wonderful NBC series that uncertainty is no obstacle here.

5. Chris D’Elia(July 25 and 26, 9:30 p.m., L’Astral, $36.15 to $48.15). I wasted a pick in this space last year extolling the virtues of the L.A. actor and comic, only to see him bail on the festival due to “scheduling conflicts.” But a) I’m not one to hold a grudge, and b) he is a clever, engaging comedian.

Just for Laughs runs from July 9 to 28. For tickets and more information, visit hahaha.com.

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.

Almost Done!

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.